Digestive Health 101
There’s a lot of interest in raw foods out there, but not nearly as much interest in—or understanding of—which foods do and don’t promote digestive health. Likewise, people love to throw around the word “detox,” but they have very little understanding of how it works. Not all raw or vegan foods are great for digestion, and eating raw foods doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’re detoxing. So let’s try to separate some of the fact from the fiction:
What is detoxification/cleansing?
Detox/cleansing is the process by which our cells, organs, tissues, and digestive system begin to release the waste and toxins we’ve accumulated from our environment and from eating poor diets.
We accumulate toxins constantly. They build up from exposure to chemicals, pollution, carcinogens in our environment, and most of all, from improperly digested and unhealthy foods. Even the simple processes of digestion and metabolism release toxic byproducts. Our bodies are naturally equipped to deal with some of these toxins, of course: the human body is magnificently smart, and it’s designed to clean up its own mess. But here’s the thing: because we’re all exposed to hundreds of toxins nowadays in addition to the toxins we create ourselves, our clean up systems are constantly being forced to work overtime. Our bodies delicate regulatory methods and organs (like our livers) were not designed for twenty first century living.
Which means that all of us are carrying around more toxins than we should be: our livers and lymphatic systems and skin–and especially our digestive systems–simply can’t flush out all of the toxicity our bodies are contending with (and of course, the more toxic food you eat, and booze you guzzle, and cigarettes you puff on, the more you’re adding to the build up!). Excess toxins are stored in our tissues and digestive tract, and can lead to fatigue, pain, poor digestion, and other chronic health complaints.
The good news is that toxicity isn’t irreversible. Another amazing thing about the human body: its capacity for healing. When you begin to eat plant-based, alkalizing foods–and raw foods in particular–they help to awaken these toxins. Why? For one thing, most toxic matter is acidic, and the alkaline foods work to neutralize it. This is of course a good thing, but it can temporarily be a bad thing. Drudging up and neutralizing toxicity is likely to make you feel a little worse before you feel better.
When I first switched to raw foods, I was on cloud nine. I thought that detox must be a myth. I was wrong. At around four months into my raw food journey, I began suffering the classic symptoms of detox. It started with a fever and cold-like symptoms. (These are a lot like “quitter’s flu,” which is what doctors label phantom flu that people develop when they quit smoking. In reality, quitter’s flu is the body releasing toxins and tar through mucous membranes.) Then came mild headaches, fatigue, nausea, and swollen glands. These are all standard symptoms of the awakening of old toxins and waste that precede detox. Others include foul breath, dry skin, and breakouts.
The good news? This phase doesn’t last forever, and there are essential steps you can take to handle the process:
•Get gravity-administered colonics from a practiced professional. Cassie Karopkin is, in my opinion, the best specialist to see in New York City; you can get in touch by emailing her at cassieruth@prodigy.net. Otherwise, search for a specialist in your area. All colonics are not created equal: pressurized colonics (closed system) can be great if they’re administered by an awesome hydrotherapist, but keep in mind that they’re powered by a machine, and that the water pressure during the treatments can be too intense for badly impacted systems, pushing waste further into the colon walls or leaving you with unreleased fluid and bloating after the treatment.
Gravity colonics (open system), on the other hand, are powered only by the force of gravity: water flows downward from a tank of water that’s suspended above the colonic table, and a hydrotherapist massages and controls the inward and outward flow of water the whole time.
No matter what, it’s the quality and experience of your hydrotherapist that matters most, so work to find someone whom you trust!
And don’t be scared. People have a hard time coming to terms with the idea of a colonic, but guess what? 90% of things that women will do to experience better health–from bogus and nutritionally void “master cleanse” regimes to powdered “liver flush” regimens to militaristic and overpriced boot camp classes–strike me as way weirder than using a gentle flow of water to heal an system that’s impacted and out of balance from chronic constipation and poor diet. Believe me when I say that gravity colonics will help you to experience a plant-based lifestyle with maximum energy, vibrancy, and ease.
•Drink lots of fresh vegetable juices.
•Try dry brushing. Dry brushes are big, natural bristle brushes that you brush off your skin with. The reason they work is because the skin is one of the main organs to facilitate detox: we release so many toxins through it. Dry brushing helps us to slough them off. Dry brushes are about $7, and using them will make a huge contribution to your well being. You can find them online here.
Cleansing is rough, but try to embrace it as your body’s way of cleaning up. It’s a good thing! Think about how gross it is that so much junk is passing through your system, and how great you’ll feel when it’s gone for good.
Digestive Health
Part of maintaining a happy and healthy plant-based lifestyle is to be vigilant about your digestive health. I hope to discuss digestive health much more extensively on the blog, but below you’ll find my basic tips for keeping your system humming. Lots of these tips will contradict what you’ve heard in fitness magazines and mainstream sources. I had IBS for twelve years, and found myself constantly confounded by the uselessness of mainstream prescriptive advice–and, sadly, the advice of numerous allopathic GIs. I’m not a medical doctor, but I have worked with many men and women who experience digestive distress, and the following tips are what I’ve gleaned from experience:
Light to Heavy
In general, it’s wise to proceed from a light meal in the morning to your densest meal at night, with lunch someplace in between. This won’t work for everyone–especially not those of you who have heavy duty morning workout routines–but it’s good advice for most people. Light, of course, doesn’t have to mean “measly” or “nonexistent”; I’m not suggesting you wake up and go for an eight mile run with no fuel other than a green jucie (unless you want to). Just stick to something relatively well combined and a portion that’s not excessive.
This runs totally contrary to lots of the “diet” advice out there, including the popular method of eating five small meals throughout the day, or the theory that the richest meal should come at breakfast. So what’s the logic? Well, digestion is a complicated process that requires the body to do a lot of work. If you eat constantly or heavily during the day, as you’re trying to carry out other physical and mental functions, you won’t digest or perform as efficiently as you could. Eat moderately in daytime hours, when you’re busiest, and you’ll notice dramatic improvements in productivity.
Food combining: A Primer
If you’ve explored the raw foods movement a little, you’ll probably have heard some talk about food combining and its benefits. I know that this advice can sound complicated—and you may be thinking, “how much more complicated can raw foods get?”
Relax, and take a deep breath. Food combining is actually a pretty simple concept to master, once you know the basics. And the good news is that it’s not essential unless you find that it works for you. If you have digestive issues, though, I really urge you to give it a shot. I know from experience that it helps immeasurably in controlling IBS.
Here’s the idea: there are four food groups that shouldn’t be mixed with each other. These groups are starches (which include bread, potatoes, avocados, young coconuts, and pasta), flesh (including fish and dairy), dried fruits and nuts, and fruit. Avoid eating them together—like fleshes with nuts, or starches with fruit—and you’ll notice amazing improvements in your digestive health. Why? These four groups all take different amounts of time to digest. If we don’t mix and match them, our bodies digest them more efficiently and cleanly. Vegetables are neutral, so they can be eaten with any of the other food groups.
Sound easy? It is! There’s only one more rule: eat fruits on their own. If you like fruit for dessert, this rule stinks. But eating fruit after a heavy meal is a lousy idea; the body devotes its digestive force to digesting the heavier food, so the fruit tends to fester in the digestive tract. Try really hard to eat fruits alone or with veggies.
There are some little quirks in this beautiful system. For example, bananas are heavier than most fruits and can be eaten with starches or nuts and dried fruits. Avocados combine nicely with dried fruit, but not with nuts. But don’t sweat the exceptions at first. Focus on the big picture. In fact, the most important thing you can do as you begin the raw journey is to avoid eating flesh with starch—so try NOT to have potatoes with your fish. I promise you’ll feel major improvement in any digestive issues as a result.
Other Tips for Optimal Digestion
•Try not to drink a lot of water thirty minutes before and after a meal. I know, it sounds weird, but water dilutes the enzymes in your stomach, making it harder to digest. Drink between meals.
•Definitely eat as much as you wish, but do stop when you’re full. And eat slowly, so that you can feel fullness when it comes naturally.
•Chew your food. Sounds like advice for a toddler, right? Well, lots of us don’t chew our food enough. I know I tend not to when I’m racing through a meal or trying to eat and work at my desk. But chewing food properly means it will digest faster and easier. So, put your molars to work!
Get the idea? A few simple tweaks will do a world of good in helping you to digest more efficiently. Efficient digestion means lack of bloating, weight retention, and even bad moods: new science is proving that we have a glut of neurotransmitters in our gut, and that the neurotransmitters located in our gut are actually responsible for seratonin production. Is it any shock that many individuals with depression–even autism–also have acute digestive disorders? Work harder to keep your GI system balanced, stable, and healthy, and you’ll be thankful in ways that extend well beyond your sudden capacity to throw away the Pepto and Tums.
